We gather at Christmas to celebrate the birth of the Christ child. At the core of this extraordinary,

spectacular story is something very human very ordinary the birth of a child. Its all summed up in a single sentence, Luke 2:7 Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the guest house.

After such a build up preparing us for the moment beginning with Archangel Gabriel heralding this coming birth, notice given before Mary was even pregnant! We know this will be and is a very special birth. And so, Luke records it in his gospel. Mary gave birth. 3 words of a single sentence. That’s it! Now I was at the birth of both my daughters. Was at the end of a phone waiting, anxiously, for the birth of a grandchild.

To give birth can take hours and is not without risk. The young Mary giving birth to her first child, would have been well aware of the risks.

Excited yes, she had the archangel’s proclamation to hang onto, yet she knew the risks and it would have been natural for her to be anxious as well. Mary gave birth. There’s a lot there in those 3 words. something very human, very ordinary, very special.  So, what of the rest of the sentence? A while ago I spent some time reflecting on that sentence. It all came together

While sitting in a pew at Pilgrim UCA. I then set about creating that vision. And exhibited it for the first time, Christmas Eve 1996 @ Pilgrim UCA.

I reflected on context , If the birth were to take place here & if there was not room in the guest house Where would it be? Back then in the 90’s most people whether urban or rural would have a shed rather than a stable on the property.

So, we are looking in through a shed window at the Christ child. Mary had wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger.

Here we have the infant child wrapped in a washed and recycled cotton flour bag laid on a potato sack rather than in a manger. A manger is another word for the livestock’s food trough.

Flour & Potatoes – food. Luke in his telling of the nativity story symbolically presents Jesus to the world as food for the world. Not the child but who Jesus is to become. His teachings & example; of inclusion, love, grace and compassion is to feed how we relate to one another, not just at Christmas, but at all times.

The composition of the art piece It’s geometry is inspired by orthodox icons. The central focal point is Christ, who’s arms are open, welcoming & vulnerable.

So in all that takes place, before & after the birth.

All the extraordinary. The spectacular and all that hundred’s of years of celebration have created. At it’s core, is something very human, very ordinary. And the witnesses to this event were themselves ordinary people. Shepherds, who were out tending their flocks that night.

Wool is really, really, amazing stuff. Cut from animals – sheep – alpacas, what else? Spun into strands Although a single strand is stronger when woven with other strands – say three.

A ball of wool is fun but there’s only so much you can do with it. 3 stranded wool (3 ply) really comes into it own when knitted, when bent and twisted, tied into knots. Then all sorts of things can be made. Imagine what? Jumpers, vests, cardigans!!!!

Why am I talking about wool? It’s the three strands woven into one stronger cable that I’m interested in. As a metaphor. Three into one. Where could I go with that?

God is so big! How do you get you’re your head around all there is to understand about God, without limiting God to what you do understand?

Really Really hard to describe the Trinity.

The Trinity is a unique way Christians understand God. You may have noticed that we are not overwhelmed with references to the Trinity in scripture. The strands are there but they are not woven together yet. We just heard from Matthew as his God talk has a threefold pattern. He names the three strands of peoples experiences of God in one phrase. Father, Son & Spirit. These strands of experience and understanding are right through the Bible. The faithful have gathered these three stands in prayer, thought, discussion & much thinking. These three strands have then been woven together to help in our understanding of God. A unique claim that God is one and yet there are three who are God.

God is so much more than any one part.

Creator/Father/Mother - bringing all to life
Spirit – making the connections
Jesus - making God accessible – God is in all ways Christlike.

Together everything is covered. It does hint that there is so much more to God that what we can ever understand at any given time in history.Trinity is a way of understanding the nature of God.Yet God is not to be contained. God is way beyond any containment we can create. God is not everything – As if God was everything – God becomes inaccessible and God is accessible –Jesus shows us that. Trinity holds that tension together. A very big God, not limited by us yet accessible to us.

Back to our metaphor. Metaphors are used to help us understand quite often
difficult ideas. With our metaphor of wool. Three strands woven together.

As God is three strands woven together as one.

As we are now officially in winter it’s a good time, if you are so inclined, to get out some wool. To Knit, Crochet or weave Tapestry. When active in such a task, reflect on the nature of our God.

One in Three – Trinity.